Police hire 'plastic' detectives

Police hire 'plastic' detectives

You could be convicted and sent to prison on the strength of the evidence gathered by a for-profit corporate investigator

The Police Inspector Blog

Security firm G4S is advertising jobs on its website for investigators to work for police forces across the UK.

Among the jobs offered are roles for non-police officers to help handle serious crime cases including murder and rape.

A top policeman has slammed the move and said the Government is going back on its pledge not to privatise the police force.

Home Secretary Theresa May recently claimed outsourcing “backroom” police jobs to private firms would save cash and not affect the role of cops on the frontline.

But a serving officer, who writes an anonymous online diary called the Police Inspector Blog, said: “Ministers have promised that frontline warranted police officer roles will not be undertaken by private companies for profit.

“The ads prove that this is clearly untrue.

“You could be convicted and sent to prison on the strength of the evidence gathered by a for-profit corporate investigator.”

There are currently four jobs advertised on the G4S site for investigator jobs with the police.

One in Portsmouth is for an Investigator (Grade 1) and says the successful applicant will “interview witnesses, record their testimony and assist with developing investigation strategies”.

It says the job involves working “alongside” police officers and will involve cases “covering serious and major crime”.

The salary available is between £25,000 and £30,000 a year. A trained police officer starts on around £26,000 a year.

The other jobs advertised are for investigator roles in London, Wiltshire and Northern Ireland.

A spokesman for the Police Federation said: “This is an extremely dangerous road to take. The priority of private companies within policing will be profit and not people.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “Private companies will not be able to arrest suspects and they will not be solely responsible for investigating crime.”